The nipple of an orthodontic pacifier is designed to fit into a child's mouth to provide pacifying effects, as well as oral exercise for promoting healthy dental development. Recent studies have shown that pacifiers are equally useful to soothe premature infants as they undergo painful medical procedures.
A recurring problem accompanying the use of pacifiers is that a child will often-times drop the pacifier on a floor or the like to subject the pacifier and child to various pathogenic germs. In order to avoid disease or other morbid symptoms, the pacifier is normally washed and rinsed or otherwise sterilized for re-use by the child.
Prior attempts to prevent the child from dropping the pacifier have included the use of a cord, string, or tape attached to the pacifier and encircled about the child's neck. The child is thus subjected to possible strangulation. As a consequence, many companies, marketing orthodontic pacifiers, print a warning on their packaging to the effect that tying a pacifier around a child's neck with a cord may present a strangulation danger.